Minister Makes Announcement

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wrexham gets the go ahead to be the UK nomination to join ranks of Worlds Heritage Sites.

A major step towards Pontcysyllte Aqueduct being considered for UNESCO World Heritage Status was announced on the 10th October 2006. The Minister for Culture, David Lammy and Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport, issued a public statement officially naming the next three sites to go forward from the UK to UNESCO for consideration as World Heritage Sites. He confirmed that the Antonine Wall in Scotland, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Wrexham, Wales and the Twin Monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow, England are the UK nominations for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Come and have your say! Public Consultation on the nomination for World Heritage Status and the Future Management of the Site

This is a key announcement in the long process for the aqueduct to join the internationally recognised list of World Heritage Sites. The list includes world famous landmarks such as the Taj Mahal, the Tower of London and the Great Wall of China.

The Aqueduct’s credentials were put to the test in 2005, the year of its bicentenary, when Consultants appointed by Wrexham County Borough Council and British Waterways produced a series of academic papers to evaluate the structure’s international historical significance. They concluded that Pontcysyllte Aqueduct meets three of the UNESCO World Heritage Site criteria; a site only needs to meet one criterion to justify inscription.

The bid is being jointly lead by Wrexham County Borough Council and British Waterways, with major support from the Royal Commission on the Ancient Historical Monuments of Wales and a watching brief from Cadw who will have to receive the bid before it goes forward to UK Government. Funding contributions to the campaign have also been received from Tourism Partnership North Wales and the Institution of Civil Engineers (Thomas Telford was the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers).

Under proposals to extend the World Heritage site boundary both Denbighshire County Council and Oswestry Borough Council (England) have agreed to support the nomination. The site being considered takes in a small section of canal within the Borough of Oswestry, before crossing Chirk Aqueduct and along the canal to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, it then follows the feeder canal through to the Horseshoe Falls in Llangollen.

Councillor Bob Dutton, Lead Member for Economic Prosperity and Asset Management, Wrexham County Borough Council said: “We are delighted to secure the 2008 nomination, it is the culmination of a lot of work behind the scenes. We are now working on the nomination documents and management plan and hope to complete this work during 2007”.

Isobel Garner, Chief Executive, stated “It is fitting that 2007 is the 250th birthday of Thomas Telford with events planned to celebrate his engineering brilliance. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute than to put his masterpiece forward to Welsh Assembly Government and onto UK Government for approval during 2007 and then onto UNESCO by its deadline of 1st February 2008.

The Aqueduct represents a great historical resource for Wrexham and North East Wales and Oswestry area, gaining World Heritage Status would be of great value to the local community as well as a real coup for the tourism profile of the area.”